When the River Drops 2012

For those of you who have not taken a gander at my personal website, I wanted to do a special post here. Cause your totally missing out. Last year the Columbia River was the lowest I have seen it since I moved here in 1999. This lead to there being a lot of newly exposed shore line. Being me, I couldn't resist the temptation to go down to the beach and walk along places I hadn't been able to before. On one particularly windy day, my two little mini-explorers, Phoenix and Gryphon, and I ventured down to Beach Glass Cove in search of more loot. When we got there I realized that it was no longer the dead end that it used to be. Just a couple of shallow steps in the water and there it was, a new expanse of beach ready to be tackled. During our visit we found two really great things which, even now as I look at the pictures, I'm still geeking out about. Without further ado, here is what we found last year when the river dropped.


The following picture is of a weight set we found on the newly exposed shoreline. Had the water been at its normal level, this would not have been seen. There is a house nearby. I was realllllllyyyyy tempted to go ask them if they knew anything about it, but thought that might be kinda weird.

The next pic is a photo of the whole thing. I did not take a picture of the matching little blue weight that you see at the end of the picture above. We found it along the beach a few steps away. These weights were made out of plastic and had concrete inside of them. Based on what I know of weights now a-days, that seems a little old school. Just looking at it makes me feel like the owner put it down for just a second and forgot about it.

The next three pictures are of a bunch of long (and I mean long) bolts I found buried under driftwood and among the rocks. The first two are of them still buried and the last one is of them dug up.

Finally, a fun picture of the boys. If you look at the rock on the left of the picture you will see that they are lighter than the ones the boys are standing on. That is the normal water level.

My hope is to venture out to the river again this year and see what new things I can find. I hope the boys will be as enthusiastic about treasure hunting as I am and join me. If you find anything you think it awesome in the Columbia River, let me know. I would love to know more about what's out there.


Rachel B.